Hiroyuki

As you say, I can't think of any situation like that, unless you are very familiar with the staff, making you feel at home and want to say "Itadakimasu!". I was thinking of a particular situation where you dine at the counter of a sushi shop. In that situation, it's not unusual to say "Itadakimasu" to the chef if the chef is attentive to you. Itadakimasu can be said in various situations. You can say it to the one who has prepared the meal for you and to other diners, and you can even say them to yourself when you are alone in your home. Gochisosamadeshita literally means "It was a feast." and is a phrase to express your thanks for the meal. You can say it when you're leaving, but you can also say it to signal that you have eaten enough while still sitting at the counter. In this Kuitan episode, http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=iB7fxqlywiI&...related&search= Kuitan says Itadakimasu at 0:25 before eating and Gochisosamadeshita at 4:57 while still sitting. You don't necessarily have to show respect for Japanese culinary culture, but it's good to know some handy words to express your appreciation for a great food or meal. Assari (noun) = Light, non-greasy, non-fatty, plain in a good way. Oishii (adjective) = Delicious. If you want to sound more native, you may want to say: Assari de oishii or Assari shite ite oishii Imagine a situation where very fatty, marbled beef is served and you eat it with grated daikon and ponzu, and it's so delicious you may want to say, "I thought it was fatty, but it isn't at all! It's assari!". The appropriate response is no response! We usually don't say anything in response to "Irasshaimase!" (note the double s). If you are a regular, however, you can always say something like kon'nichiwa (not konichiwa but kon-nichiwa) and some witty remarks. Personally, I'd say '...nchiwa!" for short. (Don't try to say it, especially if you are a woman.) And, no is "iie". "-san" is a suffix, as you say, an honorific suffix, to be exact. It's absolutely required when you address someone who is an adult, regardless of the sex. A child is addressed by adding -chan. A young man is sometimes addressed by adding -kun. -sama is used to address a customer and someone worthy of respect, and to address someone in a letter. -sama is also used in the phrase above, "Gochisosamadeshita" (where gochiso = feast, -sama = honorific suffix, deshita = was). Right, but not only for a neophyte but also for a native Japanese like me. I usually say "Gochisosama" to the waiter or waitress as I stand up and walk to the register, instead of saying something like "o-kanjo (check)." I think Gochisosamadeshita is a bit too polite in that situtation.

I have difficulty answering that kind of question, but I can assure you that both Itadakimasu and Gochisosamadeshita should be at the top of the list. Visit Kristin's thread, and you will be able to find top ten yourself. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...22entry274322 As for words describing tastes, assari should should be mentioned first. The Japanese are great lovers of assari flavors, and such simple comments as "assari, oishii!" (forget the grammer here) will make your chef smile.

One example: Sake tataki (seared salmon) http://dt125kazuo.blog22.fc2.com/blog-entry-601.html (Japanese only, but the photos will tell you how to do it, right?) Sear salmon in a frying pan with salad oil. Cool in water with ice. Slice and serve it with grated daikon and soy sauce (or ponzu). As for ikura, here is a previous thread.

According to this webpage of Setagaya's website, Tsuke-men Just like shio ramen, we reproduce the flavor in Japan. We'd like you to have the authentic tsuke-men in New York.

Apparently, they don't have a website in English. Thanks for the photos, especially the last one. Now I can see why they call their tsukemen hira (= flat) tsukemen.

Thanks for posting the photos, FG. What you described as tonkatsu is actually katsudon (tonkatsu with beaten eggs poured over it). "Coffee gelatin stuff" is probably what we call coffee jelly.

Can you please expand on the pastry scene bit? I'm going to Tokyo/Kyoto in October and am also interested in any food recommendations, especially pastries. Like Hidemi Sugino and Sadaharu Aoki, for example. ← I know little about these things. This blog has some very nice pictures of their pastries. Pastries from Aoki's shop in Marunouchi http://camille31.exblog.jp/3219191 Pastries from Sugino's shop in Kyobashi http://camille31.exblog.jp/3040217

By the way, for the past several days NPR Talk of the Nation has been running an interview with the author, Trevor Corson. They mention eating it with your fingers, along with various other tips and advice. (don't rub your wooden chopsticks together after seperating them, don't smother your sushi in wasabi and soy sauce, etc.) I'm not sure if they will still be running it on air, but I think you can here it on their website. ← Thanks for the link. Very interesting. I'd like to make some comments about what the author said. 1. The term tsukeba (pickling place) does not refer to the entire sushi shop but the place behind the counter where pickling takes place. 2. He said, "Salt and vinegar to pickle...", but I think he means "soy sauce and vinegar...." 3. Here is a thread about edomae zushi (edo-style sushi) in the Japan forum, if anyone is interested. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...44255&hl=edomae 4. Here is a link to Iron Chef Sushi Battle http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd4f7hR3F7s where an edomae zushi chef appears as a challenger.

Thanks for the links! It is greasy!! Incredibly greasy! I saw these photos of Setagaya's tsukemen. Maybe the American version of tsukemen is quite different from the original?

I wonder if their tsukemen's dipping sauce is really so greasy. I checked out through some photos of it on the Internet, but it didn't look particularly greasy to me. It's quite natural that a dipping sauce is much saltier than a regular ramen broth, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's greasier. Talking of tonkotsu ramen, tonkotsu broth itself is not so greasy. It's "seabura" (those chunks of pork fat that are sprinkled on ramen just before serving) that makes tonkotsu ramen (and other types of ramen) all greasy, right? I grew up with Tokyo-style ramen, the type of ramen that you can see in the movie Tampopo, medium thick noodles with chicken-flavored, soy-based, non-greasy, clear soup and some very classic toppings like nori, naruto, boiled spinach, thin slices of pork, and shinachiku, and that's the type of ramen I like the best. Another thing I want to say is that ramen should be cheap, something that you can get for 400 to 600 yen per bowl. I really don't understand all the fuss about recent, more expensive (> 1000 yen) ramen. If I decide to pay more than 1000 yen for a meal, I will defininitely have something more decent and healthy!

A piece of nigiri zushi is supposed to be eaten in one bite, but there is no reason why you can't eat it in more than one bite if you have such a problem. I asked my children (7 and 11) if they can eat a piece of sushi in one bite, and they both replied, "I think I can." I googled and found this (Japanese only), asking the same question. One person suggests asking the chef to make smaller pieces or cut each piece in half... I guess a decent sushi chef will meet such requests. Anyway, the balance between neta (topping) and shari (vinegared rice) is an important factor in sushi making, and should be discussed elsewhere.

Is that it? http://www.chowhound.com/topics/422734

Could you provide a link to a related webpage?

I personally hate that one, and I don't think it's instructive. I much prefer this Kuitan (Japanese TV drama) episode: http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=iB7fxqlywiI ← Sorry you hate it. I was being sarcastic about it being instructive. I do think its very funny though. Can't please everyone I guess. I am one of those who loves eating sushi with my hands. When I lived in northern Japan, there was a little place by the train station I would go to. I let the chef give me what he wanted. He would place the sushi right on the wooden bar in front of me. He did a great job of varying the prices of the pieces so I was always satisfied and not broke. ← You don't have to be sorry. I just hate it, that's all. I would love it if it were sarcastic or satirical in any way, but it's just plain stupid. *** I had lunch with my children at the local kaitenzushi (conveyor sushi restaurant). We sat at a table on the raised tatami (straw mat) space. I used a pair of disposable chopsticks (waribashi) to eat my sushi, as usual. Surprisingly, I found my children both eating theirs with their fingers! Ramen and sushi set (my favorite) 830 yen. A very satisfying meal. I also had one akami, chu-toro, and o-toro set: (Sorry, blurry) 520 yen. Not bad, but I must say the slices were too thin to savor the flavor.

All this talk about sushi made me want to have temaki zushi (hand-rolled sushi), so I made it for supper tonight, using leftover rice. The rice is not Koshihikari but Koshiibuki (a relative of Koshihikari and cheaper). As I mentioned elsewhere, sushi is not synonymous with sashimi (raw fish). The fillings were atsuyaki tamago (Japanese thick rolled omelet), green perilla leaves, home-made umeboshi paste, cucumber sticks, fake crab meat sticks, canned tuna, cod roe, and cheese. The wasabi tube contains a small percentage of real wasabi. I especially like tuna and the combination of fake crab meat, perilla, and umeboshi paste as fillings. I rarely make nigiri zushi at home, using raw fish as toppings. I know it's not worth the effort. When I want to have nigiri, I usually go to the supermarket to buy some.

Shari (vinegared rice) making has been discussed elsewhere. Let me remind everyone that cooling the rice with a fan is the final step. Here's a video showing how to make shari: http://ichii445.blog42.fc2.com/blog-entry-376.html Click the arrow to start the video. 1. Put just cooked rice in a wooden container. 2. Add a mixture of vinegar, sugar, and salt. 3. Mix well in a cutting motion. 4. Cool the rice, using a fan, to hitohada (human skin temp). *** At many shushi shops in Japan, they often put a sheet of kombu for seasoning in the rice cooker before heating. They may also put some sake. Also, they often deliberately mix komai (old crop) and shinmai (new crop) to get the desired texture. I googled and found that they mix up to 70% komai to shinmai.

A1: I didn't when I was small. Now I usually do. My children hate that part. A2: I can't answer. Prabably kuruma ebi or other large-size species. Procedure? I'm not sure, but I did find this info for you. http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/qu...tail/q147134994 Japanese only. I hope you can read Japanese. A3: I think so. You are also familiar with ara jiru, right?

Vinegar, sugar, and salt. Just mix them all together. No heating required.

I know how you feel, but what Fat Guy wrote upthread is also true in Japan, although sushi chefs may not readily admit it. As for the pronouciations, okimari = o-ki-ma-ri okonomi = o-ko-no-mi omakase = o-ma-ka-se or should I write something like: oh-key-mah-ree oh-koh-noh-mee oh-mah-kah-say

I see. I was thinking of specific terms that you can say directly to the server. All these are correct Japanese, and are probably handy for non-Japanese speaking people, but I can't imagine a situation where I can use those terms in a sushi shop, except omakase, as in "omakase de onegaishimasu" (omakase, please).

To be more precise, okonomi is a noun, and it means preference (okonomi-yaki = Japanese-style pancake), but I don't think there is a specific Japanese word for ordering directly from the chef. I have no idea how sushi shops operate in the United States, but in Japan, sitting at the counter means that you want to order from the chef. Nethertheless, it's perfectly alright to order a set menu (ume, matsu, take, etc.) even when you sit at the counter, rather than ordering piece by piece. Another way to order from the chef is to tell the chef about your preferences (and how much you want to spend).

How did you like the Koshihikari rice?

I'm curious about the noodles. Are they similar to ramen noodles?

From here

Yours looks great, Anne! I wish I could eat some of those shrimp! Uses for perilla? Here are some very Japanese uses: 1. Hand-rolled sushi Perilla + umeboshi paste + squid (or other seafood) + vinegard rice + sheet of nori (type of seaweed) 2. Tempura 3. Shred and put in natto! 4. Garnish for cold tofu (hiyayakko in Japanese) and sashimi Or, simply use it like basil, as sanrensho suggests. The flavor is different, but is good.